Political reporter visit is Jan. 28

Dante Chinni
Dante Chinni

Dante Chinni, co-author of the book "Our Patchwork Nation" and director of the Patchwork Nation Project, will visit the College of Journalism and Mass Communications on Jan. 28. He will discuss the Patchwork Nation Project with students in the college.

A public reception is 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. in Andersen Hall. Chinni's class appearances are closed to the public. His visit will be featured through Campus Voices, a public affairs service offered by the college. Campus Voices is featured on 5City-TV and 90.3 KRNU. The Chinni interview will be on KRNU at noon, Jan. 30. The air date on 5City-TV is to be determined. For more information go to http://go.unl.edu/5citytv.

Founded in 2008 by Chinni and James Gimpel, a professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Patchwork Nation covered politics in the 2008 election.

Patchwork Nation uses an interactive map that divides America's 3,141 counties into 12 community types. The community types are based on demographic characteristics such as income, racial composition, employment and religion.

Since the 2008 election, Patchwork Nation has evolved to allow users to examine national demographic data on the economy and culture in addition to politics.

The Patchwork Nation reporting project is a collaboration of the Jefferson Institute, the Christian Science Monitor, NewsHour, Politico and WNYC Radio.

Based in Washington, D.C., Chinni has been covering politics and the media for more than 10 years. He has worked as a reporter-researcher at Newsweek and as a senior associate at the Project for Excellence in Journalism. He has written for several publications including The Economist, Columbia Journalism Review and The Washington Post Magazine. He is a native of Detroit, Mich., and graduated from Michigan State University.

- Marilyn Hahn, Journalism and Mass Communications

More details at: http://go.unl.edu/v3u